Since we have arrived, we have done nothing but acquire knowledge. Just by watching people in the airport, or a train station, you can gain an immense amount of knowledge about the culture and attitudes that surround you. So much of this experience involves just being here and being a
part of the culture so that you might become absorbed into a bit and more aware of your natural inclinations, whether they match or contrast with the local behavior. So, when I say 'What Class?' it is not for lack of instructional time; all of our time here is instructional time. 
While we do have "class" and discuss the stories and theories we have read about, it is very comfortable and open, and it really wouldn't be as meaningful if we wouldn't venture out of "the classroom" into the moors, the towns, the abbeys and the forests. We are learning the mannerisms of a culture: the way people communicate, what they consider proper etiquette in public, and what they consider important to their culture and to life. People in all of the UK truly value their history. Not only tour guides at museums and other tourist sites, but even local cab drivers or pub bartenders are happy to tell you stories of the town you are in, including fascinating details about the buildings, owners of shops, and famous people who once lived there. They appreciate and are proud of where they live and want to pass it on.
part of the culture so that you might become absorbed into a bit and more aware of your natural inclinations, whether they match or contrast with the local behavior. So, when I say 'What Class?' it is not for lack of instructional time; all of our time here is instructional time. 
While we do have "class" and discuss the stories and theories we have read about, it is very comfortable and open, and it really wouldn't be as meaningful if we wouldn't venture out of "the classroom" into the moors, the towns, the abbeys and the forests. We are learning the mannerisms of a culture: the way people communicate, what they consider proper etiquette in public, and what they consider important to their culture and to life. People in all of the UK truly value their history. Not only tour guides at museums and other tourist sites, but even local cab drivers or pub bartenders are happy to tell you stories of the town you are in, including fascinating details about the buildings, owners of shops, and famous people who once lived there. They appreciate and are proud of where they live and want to pass it on. Knowledge acquired directly from a person can be extremely interesting. It differs from the experience of hearing it from a teacher in a typical classroom in the States because you are here
. You trust the authority of the cabbie telling you about Isaac Newton because as he tells you the famed man lived here, you speed by a restaurant in the middle of the country with an apple on its sign that's named for him. When a tour guide talks to you about Bill Clinton smoking pot, it differs from the newscaster at home. It isn't a scandal, but simply a funny local story to mention as you stroll past the Oxford house Clinton resided in at the time (see right) of the supposed smoking.
. You trust the authority of the cabbie telling you about Isaac Newton because as he tells you the famed man lived here, you speed by a restaurant in the middle of the country with an apple on its sign that's named for him. When a tour guide talks to you about Bill Clinton smoking pot, it differs from the newscaster at home. It isn't a scandal, but simply a funny local story to mention as you stroll past the Oxford house Clinton resided in at the time (see right) of the supposed smoking. In addition to guides and stories, you simply must get out and see it for yourself and become part of landscape, the tales and the people. Hiking the moors in Yorkshire puts you in the 
experience of the Brontes and their characters, just as bounding through Sherwood Forest gives you a slice of hanging out as Robin Hood might have. And all the book copies you possess with the famous names of Lewis Carroll, Geoffrey Chaucer, Lord Byron, George Eliot and so on cannot 
compare to striding past their stone slab tomb markers inside of Westminster Abbey in London. Don't forget that Queen Elizabeth I and numerous other English monachs elaborate tombs are also within these walls--these kings and queens truly did exist; they are no longer just names in a history book.
experience of the Brontes and their characters, just as bounding through Sherwood Forest gives you a slice of hanging out as Robin Hood might have. And all the book copies you possess with the famous names of Lewis Carroll, Geoffrey Chaucer, Lord Byron, George Eliot and so on cannot 
compare to striding past their stone slab tomb markers inside of Westminster Abbey in London. Don't forget that Queen Elizabeth I and numerous other English monachs elaborate tombs are also within these walls--these kings and queens truly did exist; they are no longer just names in a history book. I've learned to appreciate the culture and the history that surrounds it. At home, I feel too many people are losing the history, their own history, of where they live and along with it they lose a sense of the importance of the past and all the greatness that came before them. I am fortunate to have a family who loves to tell stories and I value that. I always knew that stories play a huge role in learning and understanding, but not until I was here did I realize that I may have underestimated the role of telling tales. The locals here seem to realize that everything should be passed on--there is no significance or insignificance for you never know whose interest you 
might peak, what important connection might be made or how that knowledge may affect the future understanding of the space in which you stand or the people who stand there. While I may not previously have a personal connection to spaces here in the UK simply being here and taking it all in through my senses allows those histories and stories to come to life in me, too. For example, I knew nothing of Edinburgh Castle before visiting (see left), but standing near the cannons and walking through and in the space made the stories of battles and monarchs real to me. I am taking this important realization back to my classroom. While I have always noticed students' interest in stories that connect to their assignments, I never realized what large a role I might play in their understanding and interest in their local culture. In telling them about George Remus and his swimming pool or his bootlegging operation (5-10 minutes from where they live) when we study The Great Gatsby or explaining why we have The Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati when we read To Kill a Mockingbird (sad, most of them have no idea why) I am not only helping them understand their novels, but helping them appreciate or at least know their culture and history. Now if I can just get them to experience some of the culture also, not just hear it from me but really put them in the space around them, that would really make the learning more relevant and real to them.
might peak, what important connection might be made or how that knowledge may affect the future understanding of the space in which you stand or the people who stand there. While I may not previously have a personal connection to spaces here in the UK simply being here and taking it all in through my senses allows those histories and stories to come to life in me, too. For example, I knew nothing of Edinburgh Castle before visiting (see left), but standing near the cannons and walking through and in the space made the stories of battles and monarchs real to me. I am taking this important realization back to my classroom. While I have always noticed students' interest in stories that connect to their assignments, I never realized what large a role I might play in their understanding and interest in their local culture. In telling them about George Remus and his swimming pool or his bootlegging operation (5-10 minutes from where they live) when we study The Great Gatsby or explaining why we have The Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati when we read To Kill a Mockingbird (sad, most of them have no idea why) I am not only helping them understand their novels, but helping them appreciate or at least know their culture and history. Now if I can just get them to experience some of the culture also, not just hear it from me but really put them in the space around them, that would really make the learning more relevant and real to them.
I cannot agree more that telling stories about The Local is such an important way to learn and teach. I'm glad you have such a strong appreciation of how location relates to learning. It really does take a huge act of imagination to learn things in a decontextualized way: anything we as teachers can do to bring the abstract into the concrete Local is helpful. But I think it is also an attitude of learning, which, of course, being a place facilitates. However, there are people who can BE in a place but not THINK about it or FEEL about it, so it was just another "If it's Tuesday, then it must be Rome" type of affair. Experiential learning is only learning if there is some kind of focus.
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